The USA has been painted as a punching bag ahead of the handball World Cup.
They have assembled a team of players, with dual citizenship, from twelve nations and stepped into the championship on Friday evening.
However, the premiere against Morocco ended in a crushing victory.
The Americans won 28–27 after great drama.
The national team is led by Swedish Robert Hedin, former Swedish European champion and double Olympic silver medalist as a player.
He had to watch the finish from the stands.
Pressed too late
In the final minutes, Hedin took a prohibited timeout.
Just when the USA lost the ball and Morocco went on the counterattack, the Swede pressed the timeout button, which resulted in a red card.
Croatia and Egypt also play in the same group.
Notably, Staffan Olsson, Swedish handball icon and current national team captain in the Netherlands, also got a taste of the World Cup.
He got to see his national team defeat Argentina 29–19 in the opener.